Can I Really Be Hypo And Be Soo Underweight?

[jayUK9779]

Everything I read to do with being hypo is related to being overweight, I cant for the life of me put weight on!! Can I really be hypo and I am close to start thyroid meds after a 2 year decision will be posting my pulse and temps on here to see what people think as i'm not sure what is normal.

 

[j.]

Definitely.

Everything I read to do with being hypo is related to being overweight.

Most of what's written and said about health is wrong.

 

[jayUK9779]

Thanks J

 

[j.]

Do you have access to Borda Barnes book hypothyroidism? He has anecdotes of hypo symptoms of low weight people. I was also reading Ray Peat's webpage today he mentioned that adrenaline, which might be high in hypothyroidism, helps burn fat.

 

[jyb]

I'm also low weight and hypo. I have a healthier weight and volume since eating sugar and protein, but prior to that I could eat any junk food, be very hypo, yet never gain any weight.

The explanation that adrenaline or stress helps burn fat seems plausible.

I also wouldn't find it surprising if one could be hypo yet have a very very in shape body. Often, I notice a discrepancy between the age conveyed by the face and the body in other people, the latter looking a lot better conserved than the latter.

 

[Mittir]

RP mentioned in NPR interview that he has seen hypothyroid people with
30-40 times the normal adrenaline compensating for lack of thyroid.
In another place he mentioned that excess estrogen in some people
can make them very active as estrogen is an excitatory hormone.
I think this quote totally explains how low thyroid gives an impression of
hyper metabolism.

Ray Peat wrote:"About your high metabolic rate and high temperature: In my teens and twenties, I needed about 8000 calories per day when I was physically active, about 4000 to 5000 when I was sedentary, but after I took thyroid, I needed only about half as many calories. Thyroid is the basic regulator of blood glucose, and it causes it to be fully oxidized for energy, so that it produces ATP efficiently, on relatively few calories. If blood glucose falls, because it's being used very quickly, the body responds with stress hormones, including glucagon, adrenalin, and cortisol. They cause fat and protein to be burned for energy, while in hypothyroidism, glucose can still be used inefficiently for glycolysis, producing lactic acid, displacing bicarbonate and carbon dioxide. This causes mineral imbalances, with effects including cramps and nerve-muscle tension, which produce heat and waste energy. When you first start taking thyroid again, your tissues will need some extra magnesium, during the time when the dose is increasing, and when the mineral balance is restored your temperature and metabolic rate might decrease a little. Orange juice, milk, and coffee are good for the main minerals, while salting your food to taste.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1035&start=50#p13539

 

[4peatssake]

Everything I read to do with being hypo is related to being overweight, I cant for the life of me put weight on!! Can I really be hypo and I am close to start thyroid meds after a 2 year decision will be posting my pulse and temps on here to see what people think as i'm not sure what is normal.

I was doing looking up something unrelated and came across this quote on Lita Lee's website this morning.

Weight gain and the inability to lose weight are common hypothyroid symptoms. But some hypothyroid people are underweight, so weight alone is not a determining factor. In fact, a lot of the “weight” in the hypothyroid person is water, not fat. Because thyroid can help an anorexic or sick person gain weight, Dr. Peat calls thyroid hormone an anti-catabolic hormone, one that opposes catabolism to normalize its balance with anabolism.

Here's a more direct reference- from Peat

Stereotypes are important. When a very thin person with high blood pressure visits a doctor, hypothyroidism isn't likely to be considered; even high TSH and very low T4 and T3 are likely to be ignored, because of the stereotypes. (And if those tests were in the healthy range, the person would be at risk for the “hyperthyroid” diagnosis.) But remembering some of the common adaptive reactions to a thyroid deficiency, the catabolic effects of high cortisol and the circulatory disturbance caused by high adrenaline should lead to doing some of the appropriate tests, instead of treating the person's hypertension and “under nourished” condition.

TSH, temperature, pulse rate, and other indicators in hypothyroidism

 

[docall18]

yep, usually from a combo of hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. This results in low cortisol, but high adrenaline, nor-ephedrine etc..

 

[charlie]

yep, usually from a combo of hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. This results in low cortisol, but high adrenaline, nor-ephedrine etc..

docall18,

Interesting about the low cortisol, high adrenaline causing some to be underweight.

 

[jeffreywp]

yep, usually from a combo of hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. This results in low cortisol, but high adrenaline, nor-ephedrine etc..

So what do you do about this? Haven't had my cortisol levels checked but my cholesterol is low (working on bringing that up using sugar) so I can't take thyroid yet.

 

[pboy]

yea man its absolutely possible...as a vegan I didn't realize but after 2 years I had lost around 20 or a little more pounds...keep in mind I was thin to begin with. I didn't even notice because I didn't have a scale but I could tell slowly the vitality was lowering. I was eating brazil nuts, enough protein, seaweed (iodine) and getting all the nutrients, but my average calorie intake was probably 1700 - 2300 calories, and I was pretty active most days throughout the whole day. Once it became winter it really hit me and things became more noticeable and real...the first thing to go was digestion, no constipation, but kind of the opposite...seemed like nothing digested very well, not even fruit juice, and it have to go to the bathroom constantly all day. After a while I added in dairy and eggs...lots of stuff happenening in there, and it wasn't fun most of the time, I quickly stopped eating eggs, but with dairy alone, an abundance of calories, sugar, even alcohol at the time just for calorie sake but looking back and now I wouldn't recommened it...there are better ways, it might have actually impeded progress. Just eat like 1000-1500 more calories than you need a day, a lot of cream/butter/ghee and go from there...of course on top of a balanced else nutrition plan. Its probably not a good idea to eat a lot of meat...it slows and changes digestion too much and could interfere with the rate of flow you need to really recover, if anything just once every now and then, and don't eat too many of any foods with lots of liquid oil or fiber, those can also slow digestion and ruin the rate of flow, the gut ease, you might need to build...so not nuts, beans, too many veg, stuff like that...no fiber supplement, id even hold off on carrots for a bit, maybe 1 a day